Missing the Point

We might be in the golden era of superstar point guards. But are most NBA teams still missing the point? I look back at recent NBA history to see the team that has gotten it right - San Antonio - and how most high-scoring PGs have taken away from a winning system, instead of contributing to it.

Click here to read my full feature on SportsKeeda.

Stripes Without Stars: 2004 Pistons were the NBA's most unlikely champions

When building a team to win an NBA championship, there seems to be a tried and tested and perfectly agreeable formula: 1 or 2 Superstars + 5 or 6 sturdy role players + 3 or 4 tough backups + intelligent coach. The management that helps stir up this combination behind the scenes and the professionalism of the support staff are a major factor, too, but the on-court performances ultimately depends on the player and the inspiration of their head coach.

Most, if not all, of the NBA championships (at least those in the post-merger era) have been won by teams that succeeded in following this formula. The Mavericks ('11), the Spurs ('04) and the Rockets ('94-'95) had 1 great superstar - Dirk, Duncan, Olajuwan - respectively, surrounded by a deep supporting cast. The Lakers of 2009-10 (Kobe, Gasol) and that of 2000-2002 (Shaq, Kobe) each had two legit All Stars on their way to the championship. The 2008 Celtics had the big three and Duncan had legit star help in his three other championships - Robinson, Tony Parker, Ginobili. Jordan, Pippen, and later Rodman won multiple rings, and of course, all of these teams had great role players too.

But there is one major example that bucks this trend, where a team won a championship without having any glittering superstars. Without having anyone with big names and bigger salaries. This team was the 2003-04 Detroit Pistons, who destroyed the formula to win the most unique championship of them all, and then continued to buck the trend for the next few years, as their previously-unheralded non-stars were finally given their due.

So here is the story of this unique team: You may or may not remember this, but the Eastern Conference, for the lack of a better word, were shite after Michael Jordan retired from the Chicago Bulls in 1998. Between 99-2005, only 1 NBA title was won by the East, the 2004 Pistons. The balance of power only returned to the East when Shaq left the Lakers for Miami in 2005, and a little bit more when Garnett and Ray Allen joined the Celtics in 2007. The parity during the horrid 1999-2005 period was so awful that, more often than not, the Finals were always easy for the eventual champions from the West (Lakers or Spurs), whether it was against the Knicks, Pacers, 76ers, or Nets. This was a period when the best players in the Eastern or (Least-ern) conference all stars were Allen Iverson, Vince Carter, and Stephon Marbury, and Tracy McGrady, while the west had Shaq, Garnett, Duncan, Kobe, Webber, Malone, Payton, Kidd, Robinson, etc, etc. However, if All Star Game results are any real measure (they're not), than the East were mostly competitive in this period.

It was sometime in this period that the Detroit Pistons started their dominance over the weakened East, until there came a point that they were so dominant that they became the only team in the East that Western Conference teams were afraid of. From 2002-2008, the Pistons finished in the top three of the East.

Their resurgence began in 2001-02, when they finished as the best team of the season in the weak East despite having any all stars. Jerry Stackhouse, meh!. They were on the top of the East a year later again, and this time they had a bonafide all star: Ben Wallace - who, really, only got named to the team because the other 'best' big men in the entire conference were Jermaine O'Neal, Brad Miller, and Zydrnas Ilgauskas.

But that off-season was supposed to change it all. In one of the dumbest off-season trades ever, the Memphis Grizzlies traded their SECOND PICK for Otis Thorpe to the Pistons. But just when we thought that the dumbness couldn't be overtaken, the Pistons walked into the draft with the second pick in one of the greatest drafts in NBA history. It's 2003, and on the board are LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, Chris Bosh, and Dwyane Wade, not to mention decent other players like Chris Kaman, Kirk Hinrich, David West, and Josh Howard. LeBron was a lock to go to Cleveland with the first pick. And who do the Pistons take at second place? A relatively unknown Center from Serbia & Montenegro named Darko Milicic. Yes, him, over Wade, Melo, or Bosh. Darko played less than five minutes a game that season, but also became the first member of his draft class to win an NBA championship thanks to his illustrious teammates.

If that championship at the end of the season hadn't been won, we would probably be talking about the Darko pick as one of THE WORST picks on NBA history. Which it is, but we're not, because the Pistons convinced us that, instead of a superstar, all they needed was a system.

And that system was starting to take shape. The Pistons, under the tutelage of the legendary coach Larry Brown, continued to dominate the weak East. Coach Brown is famous for two things: incredible defense, and making below average teams above average. That is exactly what he was doing with Detroit. Their starting lineup was an underwhelming group to say the least: Chauncey Billups, Richard Hamilton, Tayshaun Prince, Ben Wallace, and either Mehmet Okur or Elden Campbell at the power forward.

No championship material, this, but Brown and his Pistons weren't fazed. But mid-season, they made the real splash that took them from good go great: A three-team trade close to the deadline in February 2004 brought Rasheed Wallace to Detroit. Rasheed was no superstar himself, but he was, at that point, the biggest name in the team, and they had to give up nothing but draft picks and role players to get him.

The best part of Rasheed slipping into the Pistons starting five wasn't his contribution on court, it was how he seamlessly fit himself into a well-oiled machine. The starting lineup of the Pistons now was about to go into basketball lore, starring only one current All Star: Ben Wallace. These were the modest averages of these five players that season:

Chauncey Billups: 16.4 ppg, 5.9 apg
Richard Hamilton: 21.5 ppg.
Tayshaun Prince: 9.9 ppg, 6.0 rpg
Rasheed Wallace: 13.0 ppg, 7.8 rpg
Ben Wallace: 10.3 ppg, 14.3 rpg.

By traditional thinking, none of these players were worth big money, but take a look deeper, and you realise that together, they were priceless. Ben Wallace was the best defender in the league back then, winning four Defensive Player of the Year Awards in five years, and he was also mostly the league's leading rebounder. Most of the offense came from their backcourt of Billups and Hamilton, both good shooters and leaders. Tayshaun Prince was one of the best perimeter defenders in the league. And Rasheed, apart from an offensive post presence (but who drifted too often to the 3-pt line), was a great post defender and the team's emotional leader, giving them the edge and the belief that they good really defeat anybody.

This five was then backed up by defensive, team-oriented cogs to the system, like Corliss Williamson, Lindsey Hunter, Elden Campbell, and Mehmet Okur.

Like a lot of weak Eastern conference teams did back in those days, the Pistons reached the NBA Finals. Finishing third in the East, they easily disposed of the Bucks, and won emotional tough battles against the Nets and the Pacers.

But this season - and these finals - weren't supposed to be about them at all. This season was supposed to belong the the Lakers. Because LA had their own, even more eventful off-season, as they added Gary Payton and Karl Malone to join them and bolster their team with a total of four future NBA hall-of-famers. The hype with this Laker side was incredible. Look at that Pistons lineup again, and now look at the Laker lineup: Gary Payton, Kobe Bryant, Devean George (weak link), Karl Malone, and Shaquille O'Neal. This team had just won against sides like the Rockets, the Spurs, and the Timberwolves. This team had the world's greatest coach - Phil Jackson - at its helm.

Sure, they had their problems too - Shaq and Kobe hated each other, Karl Malone had a niggling injury, Gary Payton never accepted the triangle offense, and Kobe was playing with the distraction of a very serious rape case - but even with these issues, it seemed that the Finals were going to be an easy ride. The hard work was already done, the toughest battles already won. Walk in the park, right?

Wrong.

Over the coming weeks, the Pistons pulled off one of the biggest Finals upsets in NBA history, beating the Lakers by 4-1. Even the 1 Laker win came in Overtime after some incredible Kobe heroics. The Pistons dominated the entire series. It was no fluke, they were the better 'team', and one of the greatest 'teams' ever. They had been playing the same way all season, except that they cranked it up a little more in the Finals, and finally, people began to see the genius of the system. Five players on the court, all defending together with incredible intensity, and none of them worrying about who scores the points on the other, just as long as someone does it. Between Billups, Hamilton, Prince, and the 2 Wallaces, a team so unselfish and together, it was even difficult to choose one Finals MVP. It went to Billups for his leadership and clutch play, but really, it seemed that the Pistons didn't really care. The only silverware that mattered was the NBA trophy.

While a team opposite them argued and fought over who was to be their best player, Detroit showed what a team should be: a collection of players all doing what is necessary for the team, not for any one individual. That's why, without any superstar, they won a championship. The only other team to do it in a similar fashion - without the biggest stars - in the last 25 or so years? The '89 and '90 Pistons! Isiah Thomas might've been a legend, but even he didn't average too many points on that squad. The late 80s 'Bad Boys' Pistons were also low scoring and defensive: the 2004 version would've made them proud.

The following season, the Pistons finally got their individual due. Now, four of their five starters, apart from Prince, were named to the Eastern Conference All Star team. This squad continued to dominate the East and scare the West for the next few years. They came agonisingly close to winning another championship a year later in the 7th game of the Finals to the Spurs. One game played a little differently, and we would've been talking about back-to-back champions.

Slowly, the team began to suffer from an ugly break-up. Ben Wallace became a free agent and signed with the Bulls, only to lose his incredible defensive swagger. Billups was sent to Denver in exchange for Allen Iverson, an experiment that failed spectacularly for Detroit. Rasheed Wallace left a declining Pistons squad for the Celtics and went on to the Finals with them. Hamilton and Prince are still in a weak Pistons squad today: Prince is still starting but is defensively a shadow of his prime; Hamilton is seeing his numbers suffer and has seen his relationships with teammates and coaches suffer, too. And in case you're interested, Darko Milicic bounced around the league, from Orlando to Memphis to New York, and is finally settled into mediocrity at Minnesota.

The surge of Miami with Wade and Shaq, and then the coming together of the Boston Big Three put an end to Detroit's dominance of the East, but their legacy remains untouched. Here was a team that earned its stripes without any stars. Here was a team that didn't need an MVP, or an All Star starter, or a scoring leader, to win a championship. Watching the Pistons play back in those days was, depending on your mood, both a beautiful and a frustrating affair. Beautiful for their fans and for those who cherished hard work, teamwork, and defense; frustrating for those who wanted basketball to just be offense and highlights.

The 'championship formula' continues to work in today's NBA. That's why the Mavericks build around Nowitzki, why the Heat got the Wade/LeBron/Bosh triple threat, why the Thunder are basing their future around Durant and Westbrook, and the Knicks around Carmelo Anthony and Amar'e Stoudemire. The Bulls have their own MVP in Derrick Rose to bolster a team around.

But the 2004 Pistons have proved that, with the right mix of talent and selfless egos, a superstar isn't necessary for a ring. So much so that, those same 'non-stars', when looked from a different angle, are bigger superstars from their achievement than those who achieve the fame without deserving it.

Impact Basketball League - Basketball isn't Locked Out!

The NBA is in a lockout. The game of basketball certainly isn't.

Sure, what the NBA provided was the perfect platform for the best basketball players in the world to compete at the highest level. And sure, I'm mildly disturbed every second without NBA hoops this off-season, and perhaps for the locked-out 2011-12 season. But as we've been hearing over the last month or so - NBA players aren't exactly on strike against basketball. NBA players have been going international and hitting the streets hoops scene regularly during the off-season, showing their commitment to keep improving their game or keeping that competitive fire burning within them. The European players in the league haven't even had to try hard for high-level hoops action, as the 2011 Eurobasket is providing them just that.

But then came along a novel idea that is sure to provide a little more respite to hoops-starved fans. As Howard Beck of The New York Times reported a few days ago, more than 40 NBA players will get together in an unofficial 'Lockout League' in Las Vegas from September 12 - 23rd (just 12 days, I know, but better than nothing!). Players from the Knicks, Rockets, Clippers and many more will be joining this competition, which will be officially called the Impact Basketball Competitive Training Series: the only things that it will share with the NBA are NBA players and basketball!

Some of the big name players competing will include: Chauncey Billups, John Wall, Zach Randolph, and Stephen Jackson.

Here is more information from The New York Times:

The site will be the Impact Basketball gymnasium, about two miles from the Strip. The unofficial commissioner will be Joe Abunassar, a longtime trainer of N.B.A. players. More than 40 players, locked out of NBA facilities because of a labor standoff, have committed to play.

As many as eight teams, featuring seven or eight players each, will play daily starting Sept. 12. The series will end with two days of playoffs, with a championship game Sept. 23. Games will be officiated and played under NBA rules, albeit with 10-minute quarters and without coaches barking from the benches.
The plan is to sell tickets (about 500 a day, with proceeds donated to charity) and to stream the games live on the Internet.

Teams will be assembled with an eye toward parity and with an emphasis on keeping N.B.A. teammates together. Billups will probably be joined by his Knicks teammates Shawne Williams and Iman Shumpert. Another roster will feature at least four Rockets: Kyle Lowry, Chuck Hayes, Chase Budinger and Courtney Lee. Mo Williams and DeAndre Jordan of the Clippers will form the core of a team, with hopes that their teammate Blake Griffin, last season’s rookie of the year, will join them.
Others who have committed include J. J. Hickson of the Kings, Eric Maynor of the Thunder, Al Harrington of the Nuggets, Jermaine O’Neal of the Celtics and Jared Dudley of the Suns.
Box scores will be kept. Standings will be posted. The stakes may be minimal, but the egos will be active. The competition level should be much higher than the typical summer exhibition.

If all goes well in Las Vegas — and if all goes poorly at the bargaining table — Abunassar will stage another two-week series in October, he said. And in November and December, if necessary.

Nice work, Mr. Abunassar. Even though I would rather wish that the NBA Lockout ends and your league doesn't work out, I'm glad that some sort of challenging and competitive basketball is coming our way. I will obviously be supporting the Knicks'-heavy squad, and it will be great to see games in which defense will actually matter!

Hopefully the Impact Basketball League is a success - And for the next time this league is held (if there is a next time), bigger name stars get tempted to join in and make it an even more exciting event.

Denver Nuggets - All For One

It's been around three weeks since the trade deadline, and the new pieces that were roughly reshuffled on Feb 24 are now starting to show some shape with adjusting to their new teams. But out of all the teams involved in major trades at the deadline - Hawks, Celtics, Cavs, Nets, Knicks, Thunder, Blazers, Jazz, and Wizards, it has been the Denver Nuggets who have shown the most improvement, winning nine of their 11 games since.

Before the trade, it had been a season full of 'Melo'Drama for the Denver Nuggets and their coach George Karl. Trade rumours were lurking for their superstar forward, and the Nuggets, who have been one of the best teams in the West for Carmelo Anthony's seven-year era, were on a slightly slower pace this season. True, they were still winning more games than they lost, but there was a tension in the air.

And then Carmelo and Chauncey Billups were sent to New York Knicks for four lesser-known players. Now, a lot of people compared Carmelo bolstering out of Denver to LeBron James' exit from Cleveland, but this is far from a fair comparison. LeBron left the Cavs as a free agent, leaving his former team with nothing in return. Cavs lost LeBron, Shaq, Ilgauskas, and Delonte West to free agency, getting nothing in return but large cap space to use on players who didn't want to go there in the first place.

Anthony was also reaching his free-agency at the end of this season, so instead of leaving Denver with nothing, his trade to New York mid-season at least brought the Nuggets some value for him. And oh my, have the Nuggets struck gold.

This was the original trade: The Nuggets gave up Carmelo Anthony, Chauncey Billups, Shelden Williams, Renaldo Balkman, and Anthony Carter. Melo is a multiple time all star in his prime and one of the league's best scorers. Billups is a multiple time all star from the past and a Finals MVP. Melo and Chauncey were their top two scorers. The other three guys are solid backups.

In return, they got Wilson Chanlder, Danilo Gallinari, Raymond Felton, and Timofey Mozgov from the Knicks, and Kosta Koufos from the Timberwolves. No all stars, no championships, not even a 20 point average - just four or five guys who are willing to fit into the system.

And the trade has worked miracles! Before the trade, Denver were a respectable 32-25. Since the trade? They are 41-27. Conversely, look at the Knicks, who have seemingly gotten the better of the trade - Knicks were 28-26 before Melo, and have been 7-6 since.

Everyone expected Denver to free fall without their two leaders. Instead, this team has figured out a way to stay relevant and even get better. The Nuggets now share their offense between Nene, Chandler, Arron Afflalo, JR Smith, Ty Lawson, Felton, Al Harrington, Kenyon Martin, Chris Anderson, and Gallinari, who is currently injured. In a team full of support-guys, players amongst whom near is no real star, they have figured out a way to be incredibly efficient.

A lot of credit for this needs to go to Coach Karl. Without Anthony's lack of defensive ability, the Nuggets are now a much better team on the defensive end. And on offense, since the ball doesn't need to go through one player alone, they are a lot more efficient, sharing, assisting, and actually scoring more points.

Of course, the true test of this team will come in the playoffs. If the playoffs started today, the Nuggets would be fifth in the West, and they would play their first round against the Thunder. If they keep playing balanced basketball the way they are, the Thunder have a right to be quiet worried.

But does all this mean that, despite all his abilities, Carmelo Anthony is a negative player? Well, yes and no. Of course, his problems on defense and sometimes his one-trackedness can hinder a team, but every successful squad needs someone to turn to when the going got tough, and Anthony is one of the best in the league at that. At this point, the Nuggets may be enjoying life without their former best player. But the Knicks shouldn't feel despair about getting a lethal scorer like him: it will take time for him and Billups to settle in their new team, and once the playoffs start, we will see Anthony's real value.

As of now though, the Denver Nuggets are definitely the winners of the trade deadline.

Carmelo Anthony, Delusion and Quandary

That Carmelo Anthony is a tough nut to crack, isn't he?

Before I talk about him, here's something else: as fans, we like to have the top NBA players easily splittable into different slots. These are mine:

A. The elite-MVP-caliber-type player: LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, Dwyane Wade, Kevin Durant, Dwight Howard, and now, Derrick Rose.
B. Amazing players who are a Slot C player away from being in Slot A: Chris Paul, Deron Williams, Steve Nash.
C. Elite second option/complimentary players: Rajon Rondo, Pau Gasol, Chris Bosh, Russell Westbrook, Amar'e Stoudemire, Carlos Boozer, LaMarcus Aldridge, Joe Johnson.
D. Experienced team players with limited but effective roles: Paul Pierce, Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett, Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili, Tony Parker, Lamar Odom, Chauncey Billups.
E. Guys that play well in a good system: Al Horford, Josh Smith, Luol Deng, Al Jefferson, Luis Scola, Kevin Martin, David West, Andrew Bogut, Jason Kidd, Jason Terry, Caron Butler, and Everyone in the 76ers.
F. Talented young scorers/fringe all stars: Monta Ellis, Rudy Gay, Danny Granger
G. Talented youngsters in bad teams still finding their slot: Blake Griffin, John Wall, Kevin Love, Stephen Curry, Tyreke Evans, Brook Lopez

A pretty exhaustive list I know, and I'm sure there will an argument here or there about shifting one or the other into another group. But this list leaves out two very important players. The first is Carmelo Anthony, my muse for this article. The other is Dirk Nowitzki.

I couldn't find a list in the seven above for any of these two guys. They are not young enough to be in Slots F or G. They are too talented to be considered a limited veteran like Garnett, Pierce, or Duncan in Slot D. They are way better than any 'system' player like Josh Smith, David West, or Luis Scola in Slot E.

Which leaves me with the first three slots. Dirk and Melo have both played in great, stacked, and successful teams for most of their careers, and so it is hard to argue that they belong in Slot B. Since both of them have been primary scorers and volume shooters in good teams, there is no way that they can settle for Slot C like Gasol, Bosh, or Joe Johnson. But then are they really good enough to be mentioned in the same breath as LeBron and Kobe in Slot A?

I'm going to leave Dirk alone for now - his place in the history of the NBA's elite will demand a different, exhaustive discussion. Let's get back solely to Melo. Last week, Carmelo Anthony was traded to my favourite team, the New York Knicks. After a decade of futility, losing records, and embarrassment, the Knicks had paired someone I consider a Slot C, complementary player, Amar'e (he can NEVER be the leader in a great team) with someone from Slot D, Billups. Add to this mixture my favourite rookie and glue-guy, Landry Fields.

For a decade, I have suffered, watching a revolving door of underachieving, overpaid, and infuriating players stroll in and out of the Knicks. Here is a short list of some of those who came, who saw, and who lost in New York: Shandon Anderson, Howard Eisley, Stephon Marbury (once my favourite player), Keith Van Horn, Tim Thomas, Jerome James, Michael Sweetney, Jalen Rose, Steve Francis, Penny Hardaway, Renaldo Balkman, Zach Randolph, Larry Hughes, Darko Milicic, and Eddy Curry.

But in Melo, we have someone different. He is a multiple-time All Star, and is one of the league's best scorers. He is in his prime, with a lot of playoff experience, a great late-game mentality, and a lot of more years left to go as an All Star level guy. Carmelo Anthony is gifted enough to be one of the league's best pure scorers ever.

But in the last sentence above, I answer my own conundrum. He is "gifted to be", means, "he can be, but he isn't." And "best pure scorers" begs the question, "Is he anything else?"

Yes, he's a good rebounder, and yes, he is an adequate passer. But unfortunately, there is not much else. Melo has been considered to being a liability on the defensive end, and unlike the elite players, he isn't exactly a leader on the court. Soon after he left Denver, his former coach George Carl echoed the enigma that is Carmelo Anthony: "Melo is the best offensive player I’ve ever coached," said Karl, "But his defensive focus, his demand of himself is what frustrated us more than anything."

And all this is why, despite now having a core of Melo, Amar'e, and Billups, the Knicks are still far from being a contender. This is why many people still believe that the Knicks are still one more important piece, and a few more little pieces, away from being elite. Despite being one of the best players in the league, Carmelo Anthony cannot carry even a good team on his shoulders like LeBron, Kobe, Wade, Dwight, or Rose can. At least not yet.

I hope against everything I've written above that I'm proved wrong. I hope that the unlikely happens, that Mike D'Antoni, the anti-defensive guy, is someone able to make Carmelo Anthony into a defensive guy and a leader. Okay, ignore what I just wrote. That's never going to happen.

At the end of the day, though, it is all about the Knicks. They may not be in the elite league of the Celtics, Heat, Lakers, or Spurs, or in the almost elite league of Bulls, Magic, Mavericks, and Thunder, but they are way, way, waaaay better than anything I've seen in about a dozen years. For a team that has struggled to have a winning season and make the playoffs, the gift of a first round playoff exit and excitement in its fans is improvement enough.

The Knicks have become important again, not only by winning more games, but by becoming an enticing destination for other NBA stars. No one wants to play with Eddy Curry, Keith Van Horn, and Tim Thomas. People want to play with Chauncey Billups, with Amar'e Stoudemire, and most importantly, with Carmelo Anthony.

A year, two, or three years from now: Which slot would you reserve for Carmelo Anthony?